Using robots cheaper than hiring workers; the future is here – report

Workers in several service industries could be replaced by robots soon to increase efficiency and decrease expenses, according to analysts. What will the future of work look like, and what trends are emerging that that will bring us to that conclusion? These are the questions asked and answered by two consultants in London, UK.

Furthermore, there is also the question how technology affect these trends and whether it be in a positive or negative way?

The issue came to to the forefront after a former CEO of McDonald’s recently warned that robots will take over jobs at the fast food chain. Ed Rensi has said that deploying highly skilled robotics is a cheaper alternative than employing people on minimum wage to work in an inefficient manner.

‘A Future that Works’, is a report that has been compiled with help from world-leading experts in their fields, including Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice at London Business School; The Hot Spots Movement, a specialist research and consulting team founded by Lynda and David A.Smith, a futurologist and chief executive of strategic futures and research organisation, Global Futures and Foresight.

Prof Gratton wrote in the report:”Studies have suggested that a third of jobs in Europe will be replaced by technology over the next two decades.”
As middle-skilled roles disappear, workers may find that the ‘rung’ above them no longer exists, and that the career ladder may begin to look more like a career web.”

“The ultimate implication is that workers cannot now expect to gain seniority by moving ‘up’, but rather moving sideways by gaining additional complex skills.”